Register Of Heritage Contractors

The Register of Heritage Contractors is an accredited listing of competent main contractors and specialist contractors in the field of built heritage conservation. Each member of the Register meets a set of predefined criteria, experience and expertise that enable them to carry out restoration projects. The Register is overseen by an independent Board comprising senior figures from the construction industry, the professions, third level institutions and conservation bodies (including: Construction Industry Federation, Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, Office of Public Works, The Heritage Council, Irish Georgian Society, Limerick Institute of Technology, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and Fingal County Council).

This Board works to ensure that all heritage projects in the fields of conservation and restoration meet the highest quality standards. Registered Heritage Contractors are assessed against prescribed standards by an assessment committee, which reports to the main Board.

Requirements for registration include:

Prior validated experience

Business/industry requirements

The requirement for annual renewal and continuing professional learning and development, and

All Registered Heritage Contractors are required to observe a Code of Ethics

The Register of Heritage Contractors thus represents an increasingly regarded quality standard for contracting within the field of conservation and restoration (heritage) projects.

What does membership of the Register of Heritage Contractors mean for your business?

Registered Heritage Contractors are at an advantage when it comes to tendering for heritage work, not only by virtue of their registered status, but also by the level of recognised traditional building skills in-house. Support for traditional building and conservation skills is essential to the on-going repair of our built heritage. And, it is widely acknowledged that the economic recession severely impacted construction to the extent that the industry now faces a serious skills deficit.

Government investment in this sector is beginning to mirror the long held view of the heritage contracting industry itself. That view is that targeting investment in this skilled sector results in the creation of sustainable construction jobs and contributes to economic regeneration. Actions introduced by Government to date such as the ‘Town and Village Renewal Initiative’ and the ‘Living City Initiative’ are steps in the right direction. Furthermore, jobs created in conservation tend to be locally based in small to medium sized enterprises with a balanced regional spread.

Mechanical & Electrical Engineers on the Register of Heritage Contractors

It is widely accepted that mechanical and electrical engineering works play a critical and often a central role in many of today’s prestigious heritage projects – particularly those of a national, economic and cultural importance. Mechanical and electrical engineering works have the power to be one of the most transformative factors to ensuring the practical utilisation of such buildings; thereby preserving them and sustaining their fabric into the future by putting them to productive use.

In 2016, the Heritage Registration Board together with the OPW sought to identify those in the Specialist Mechanical and Electrical Contracting sector with the capacity and competence to undertake works of this nature. The Heritage Registration Board has now produced a special application form for those interested in applying for registration on the Register of Heritage Contractors as a Specialist Contractor – Building Services (Mechanical and Electrical).

Find out more

A full list of Registered Heritage Contractors can be found in this Directory as well as on the Register’s dedicated website www.heritageregistration.ie, along with further information, news and CPD events, together with applications forms and guidelines.

If you are a main contractor or sub-contractor engaged in restoration and conservation work and would like to have an informal discussion with regard to Heritage Registration, please contact any member of The Register of Heritage Contractors team.

Key Contacts

Jeanette Mair – Economic and Policy Research Executive

Jeanette is the CIF’s Economic and Policy Research Executive. She works with Federation policy committees and Directors, helping guide policy across a spectrum of economic / industry / fiscal / regulatory / development issues. She is also responsible for carrying out and commissioning new research, expanding the CIF’s information databases, preparation of submissions and strategy papers and advocating on various industry matters to support CIF’s dialogue with key policy stakeholders.

Jeanette joined the CIF in 2007 as Housing, Planning and Development Executive, a role she held until 2017. She was Project Manager of CIRI (Construction Industry Register Ireland) from 2013 to 2017 during which time she oversaw the establishment and operation of the new register. Jeanette has been Manager of the CIF’s Register of Heritage Contractors since 2011.